What good is money? It is worthless unless it is exchange for something useful. And what it can buy determines not the value of the item but rather the worth of the dollar.

Let me clarify. If you were hungry and there were no food to buy, the million dollar in your bank account is worthless. Or if you were naked and cold somewhere and there were no place for you to buy some shelter or clothing, the credit card or cash in your wallet is meaningless.

Or just imagine the most common example - sitting on the john in a public restroom and come to the realization that there is no toilet paper anywhere. You probably would offer any money you might have at that time for a little sanitary convenience....

The Bible has given fabulous examples that money is worthless. Crossing the desert to the promise land, the Israelites were laden with gold, silver from their Egyptian masters. But what good were those gold, silver when they were hungry and thirsty? God did not need that money, silver or gold. God simply sent manna, flew in a few thousand quails and made water burst from rocks.

What about that famous feeding the thousand story in the New Testament. The disciples did not have enough food. And they did not have enough money. And they knew that even if they had money, there were no place to buy enough food to feed that large of a crowd. What did God need at that time - all but 2 fishes and 5 loaves of bread.

So I think that the argument that God needs our money to do the works of the kingdom is quite ridiculous. This is the Alpha and the Omega. He can make rocks sing, smite an entire city in single breath, make a tree grow overnight and then wither just as quickly, cast nets where there is no fish until the nets are breaking with a catch. So let's get real for a minute. God does not need our money.

If he really wanted to feed a nation of hungry people, he could simply make fertile where once was barren, rain down more manna, more quail or turn an entire contaminated river into the best purified water.

Why he doesn't do that, I don't know.

But what I do know is that money is something He allows me to have for a specific period of time to do works that would be pleasing to Him.

I should not be so arrogant as to see that "my money" makes all the difference. But that I should be humbled enough to say that God has given me this opportunity to make a difference. To share in His joy, to share in His compassion, to share in His triumph, to share in His love.

It is a privilege to have anything to give. And how I spend what God has allowed me to manage during my short stay here on Earth is a reflection of my priorities.

When I get to heaven, God is going to open the accounting book and show me all the times that I have squandered, cheated, stolen, withheld and I will weep. I will see how little I truly believed him, loved him and followed him. And how I thought was so important at that time was really not that important. And how that little black dress that I did not need could have translated to food for a family of four, bolstering their faith for another day.

He will surely wipe away that debt and then show me where I have given as I ought. And how that has pleased him. I want that to be a long long list.

So it is true. God does not need our money to complete His work. But what awesome honor it is to participate, even with something as worthless as money.

I've written to ease my pain; I've written to hear my voice; I've written for vanity; I've written for sanity; I've written for fun; I've written for laughs; I've written for me; I've written for money. But until I write for God, this talent is for naught.